In a sports-mad state like Pennsylvania, in a fan epicenter like Pittsburgh, it is sometimes easy to forget that a game is still a game. Still, somebody from the heart of Steelers country ought to remind Sen. Arlen Specter. He thinks the cheating scandal in the National Football League is a fit subject for congressional action.

What has become known as Spygate involved -- boo, hiss -- the New England Patriots, who were found to be videotaping opposing coaches calling defensive signals from the sidelines, which violated NFL rules. The Patriots admitted doing this since 2000 and four of the games involved the Pittsburgh Steelers, including the AFC championship victories at the end of the 2001 and 2004 seasons.

The revelations of cheating shamed the Patriots and for many lovers of the game put a mental asterisk on the Patriots' otherwise superlative performances. The team and its leadership paid a hefty, tangible price, too: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell fined the Patriots $250,000, their coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the team lost a 2008 first-round draft pack.

The NFL considers the matter closed. The Steelers do as well. Coach Mike Tomlin said: "It's over."

Not for Sen. Specter. After meeting with former Patriots employee Matt Walsh on Tuesday, he wants more flogging of this dead horse along the lines of the Mitchell inquiry into the use of steroids in baseball. He said he would wait a couple of months to see if the NFL will act before involving Congress.

Congress should stay out of it. The antitrust exemption that football enjoys isn't reason enough for further investigation. Baseball's scandal involved the more serious issue of steroid abuse. Spygate was tawdry cheating of a different order in which the principals have already been punished and the message sent.

Because it's only a game, those who run the game should be left to keep their house in order. The siren has sounded, the games are in the record books and Sen. Specter surely has better things to do. Listen to the coach: It's over.